TexasCHLforum.com

What can I say, skin color/tone is a discriminator. Its use doesn’t necessarily denote racism on the part of the person using it.

My horse is brown, my wife’s is black. When I point my horse out to someone I general say “the brown one”…it’s easier to say than “the horse in the field that’s closer to us and a little to the right”. No racism involved, color in that case is being used for speed and clarity.

If there are two blonds and a redhead standing in close proximity, and I wanted to draw attention to the one with the red hair, I would say “the redhead”, I wouldn’t waste time with “the one all the way on the left”. Again the intent is utilization of a discriminator for speed and clarity in communication.

Skin color is no different (or at least it doesn’t have to be). “Are you talking about the black guy on the left”? “No, I’m talking about the white guy on the left”. There’s no racism there, both individuals were on the left…color was just an easy and quick way to identify the right person.

The issue for many posts is color/race is really extraneous data that doesn’t materially contribute to the transfer of information, unless your point is to show race association with the crime (which doesn’t necessarily link the use to racism).

But I think in many cases we’ve been conditioned to add that sort of information, just the same as we’ve been conditioned to add gender when it really doesn’t matter.

But just because someone adds it as extraneous information shouldn’t be taken as a sign the person is racist.

Also, to me, just because something is a fact doesn’t mean it’s pertinent to the discussion. “A white male, who had blond hair, attended Catholic school, drove a Chevy, and was left handed attacked another white male, who had a Sears refrigerator, owned stock in Wal-Mart, forgot his mother’s birthday, and had a dog named Fritz” contains a lot more facts than required to get the intent across. “Facts” are not always useful…

What I feel is more important than the use of race, sex, religion, or any other potentially disparaging descriptor is the intent when they are used. Most of us can discern the intent of a post. If the intent is racist, than it doesn’t belong on an open forum. If its intent is not racist, then don’t see what ain’t there.